Epiphany
We know the word: a moment of piercing awareness, the sudden jolt of understanding. This is the season of Epiphany, a season celebrating the revelation of the Savior, the light of the world. Throughout the season we focus on the ministry of Jesus: the calling of the disciples, the teachings of Christ, his miracles, and finally his transfiguration. The epiphany of Epiphany is that this is no mere teacher or prophet— this is the Son of God, the Messiah. Epiphany calls us to live God’s mission, announcing the good news of Christ’s arrival to every culture and to those who live across the street. We, the church, are sent out as the manifestation of Jesus to a watching world (from Seeking God’s Face by Philip Reinders).
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
The Lord has manifested his glory:
O come, let us adore him.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 85
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
[1] LORD, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
[2] You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
[3] You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
[4] Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
[5] Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
[6] Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
[7] Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.
[8] Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
[9] Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
[10] Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
[11] Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
[12] Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
[13] Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.
Psalm 86
A Prayer of David.
[1] Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
[2] Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
[3] Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
[4] Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
[5] For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
[6] Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
[7] In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
[8] There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours.
[9] All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
[10] For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
[11] Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
[12] I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
[13] For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
[14] O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
[15] But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
[16] Turn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to your servant,
and save the son of your maidservant.
[17] Show me a sign of your favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
Old Testament Reading
Job 9
[1] Then Job answered and said:
[2] “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
[3] If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
[4] He is wise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
[5] he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
[6] who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
[7] who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
[8] who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
[9] who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
[10] who does great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
[11] Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
[12] Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
[13] “God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
[14] How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
[15] Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
[16] If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
[17] For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
[18] he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
[19] If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
[20] Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
[21] I am blameless; I regard not myself;
I loathe my life.
[22] It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
[23] When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
[24] The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges—
if it is not he, who then is it?
[25] “My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
[26] They go by like skiffs of reed,
like an eagle swooping on the prey.
[27] If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’
[28] I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
[29] I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
[30] If I wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
[31] yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
[32] For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
[33] There is no arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
[34] Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not dread of him terrify me.
[35] Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
New Testament Reading
Romans 13
[1] Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. [2] Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. [3] For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, [4] for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. [6] For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. [7] Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
[8] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. [9] For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
[11] Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. [12] The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. [13] Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. [14] But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- Commission -
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.